Former Chechen official arrested over Politkovskaya case

Shamil Burayev, the former head of the Chechnya’s Achkhoi-Martan District, was detained on September 12, and later arrested. He has been charged with the involvement in the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Burayev's lawyer, Pyotr Kazakov, says that his client is innocent.

“My client is innocent. As for the reason why he was detained, I hear that the charge is aiding and abetting murder. We will have to wait for the court to say something more definite; I am not free to disclose the details right now. According to legal procedure, the investigators have ten days after the detainment to indict my client, after which the investigation will continue. My client is going to defend his reputation. He says he is innocent; so, we will work together to find proofs of his innocence,” he commented.

Recently ten men have been held over the killing of Anna Politkovskaya who was shot dead near her Moscow apartment in October 2006.

In the last months of her life, the journalist was thought to have been investigating human rights violations in Chechnya.

The prosecution linked Politkovskaya's murder to her professional activity and the Prosecutor General claims the murder was most probably ordered from outside the country.